Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad (center) training with the national soccer team on March 1 (file photo) (Fars)
April 9, 2006 -- Iran says President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, a soccer fan, will not be attending the World Cup finals in Germany in June and July.

German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble had said Ahmadinejad was welcome to visit.

Ahmadinejad sparked worldwide controversy when he suggested the Holocaust was a myth. Several leading German politicians called for the Islamic Republic to be banned from the finals.